Mackenzie MayIt seems the Mackenzie May is waking up most mornings having to pinch herself.
She is only 19 years old, but the rising country singer-songwriter is fast adding many noteworthy notches to her musical belt.
She was a finalist in this year’s Tamworth Country Music Festival Toyota Starmaker, has enjoyed over 500,000 streams on her first single Little Things, and has achieved airplay across all major Australian country music networks including iHeart Country, ABC Country, Kix and more.
To top it all off, she is gearing up to play CMC Rocks, next month, a.k.a. Australia’s largest country music festival.
“I am feeling so excited,” May gushes over Zoom, brightened by a cloud of golden curls. “I did my rehearsals on Sunday. I was feeling a little nervous about it, because I’ve never done anything like this before.
“But just having that clarity and playing with that amazing band just has me so much more excited and pumped to hit that stage. And I honestly cannot wait to just share my music with people. I just always try to put on my best show for people.”
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Hitting the road and playing numerous shows is undoubtedly a dream come true for Mackenzie May. I grew up always wanting to travel Australia and the world,” she admits.
“I used to put it in my vision boards when I was eight years old. So it’s just hitting me that it’s actually my reality now, it’s what I do. And I could not be more grateful and happy about the fact that I actually get to do it for my job.
“Although I love being at home and being with my partner and being in my own bed, I love travelling and going to new places and meeting new people,” she adds.
May grew up in Queensland – what most would call the heart of Australia’s country music scene. Does she credit her northeastern upbringing as being the reason that she fell in love with country music?
“100%,” she nods. “My pop was a country singer and he grew up playing in country bars and honky-tonks. Same with my mum. They had their own family band.”
May grew up rurally in Moura, where “the closest shops to us were two hours away.” As such, driving was a constant throughout her life, which definitely influenced the style of music she is drawn toward. “On the roads, my mum was always listening to country music. She loved Keith Urban and George Jones – all of the classics.”
Though that level of isolation is far from most teenagers’ ideal scenario, she is now “grateful” to have grown up the way that she did. “At the time I felt like I missed out on a lot of things in my childhood,” she explains.
“I didn’t go to my first concert until I was 16, just because we didn’t have any of that kind of stuff near us. We didn’t have any of those big city opportunities.”
But small-town life was ultimately a blessing. “There was nothing for me to do out there. My pop gave me my first guitar for my seventh birthday, and being bored out in the middle of nowhere, you just have to pick it up. And that’s how songwriting came to me.”
Her formative years spent fiddling around on the guitar alone have finally paid off. May is now gearing up to release her debut EP, All The Little Things, on March 20th.
“I’m honestly feeling quite emotional,” she admits. “My mind is boggled. I’m also moving houses at the same time as well. I’ve obviously got CMC to prep for as well. So I’ve got all these things going on in my mind, all these things to focus on. But when I think about it, I’m like, ‘Is this actually happening?’”
She is particularly excited to put together a CD, to have a physical product of her music to be able to hold in her hands. “It’s just… heaps of emotions,” she exhales.
The songs on the EP vary from poignant to upbeat boot-tappers. She mentions a song that details her nan’s recent passing. “I remember she once told my mum when she goes to heaven, she’s going to be put straight in the kitchen. I thought to myself, there’s a song in this. And it literally came out of me in fifteen minutes.”
Some songs poured out easily. Others took years. “It changes all the time, and I never have a specific mindset that I have to get into. But if I have an idea, I’ll do my best to write it.”
She also doesn’t shy away from socio-political issues. Her latest single, If It Wasn’t For The Money, tackles the cost of living crisis.
The song came about when she was fresh out of high school and working in hospitality. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with myself. It’s so hard to become a musician,” she recounts.
“I mean, I’ve got a full-time job now because music obviously doesn’t pay the bills for me enough. Fuel prices keep going up. I remember my friends always wanted to go out to dinner and I couldn’t afford it because I was living off minimum wage, I was a musician trying to get by.
“So I just put it into words and thought, a lot of people are actually going to relate to this.”
On that note, does she believe that musicians and artists in general have a responsibility to speak out on or reflect social and political issues in their work?
“100%. Whatever people believe in, I think it’s really important for them not to just keep quiet,” May notes. “And a lot of people will agree with what you have to say. I think it’s really important to speak your truth. I mean, that’s what I did, and it’s gotten me pretty far.”
And with her current bubbly attitude and strong work ethic, she is poised to go even further, and she won’t let anyone stop her. Or, as she says, “It’s all about finding the fans who do like and listen to your music, and ignoring the haters.”
Mackenzie May’s debut EP, All The Little Things, arrives on March 20th.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
